him ten thousand dinars, besides ten white slaves and ten

handmaidens and a like number of blackamoors, whereupon, coming



forward, Abu Sir kissed the ground before him and said: "O

auspicious Sovereign, lord of justice, what place will contain me



all these women and slaves?" Quoth the King: "O weak o' wit, I bade

not my nobles deal thus with thee but that we might gather together



unto thee wealth galore; for maybe thou wilt bethink thee of thy

country and family and repine for them and be minded to return to



thy mother land- so shalt thou take from our country muchel of money

to maintain thyself withal, what while thou livest in thine own



country." And quoth Abu Sir: "O King of the Age (Allah advance thee!),

these white slaves and women and Negroes befit only kings, and hadst



thou ordered me ready money, it were more profitable to me than this

army; for they must eat and drink and dress, and whatever betideth



me of wealth, it will not suffice for their support."

The King laughed and said: "By Allah, thou speaketh sooth! They



are indeed a mighty host, and thou hast not the wherewithal to

maintain them; but wilt thou sell them to me for a hundred dinars a



head?" Said Abu Sir, "I sell them to thee at that price." So the

King sent to his treasurer for the coin and he brought it and gave Abu



Sir the whole of the price without abatement and in full tale, after

which the King restored the slaves to their owners, saying, "Let



each of you who knoweth his slaves take them, for they are a gift from

me to you." So they obeyed his bidding and took each what belonged



to him, whilst Abu Sir said to the King: "Allah ease thee, O King of

the Age, even as thou hast eased me of these Ghuls, whose bellies none



may fill save Allah!" The King laughed, and said he spake sooth. Then,

taking the grandees of his realm from the hammam, returned to his



palace. But the barber passed the night in counting out his gold and

laying it up in bags and sealing them, and he had with him twenty



black slaves and a like number of Mamelukes and four slave girls to

serve him.



Now when morning morrowed, he opened the hammam and sent out a crier

to cry, saying: "Whoso entereth the baths and washeth shall give



that which he can afford and which his generosity requireth him to

give." Then he seated himself by the pay chest and customers flocked



in upon him, each putting down that which was easy to him, nor had

eventide evened ere the chest was full of the good gifts of Allah



the Most High. Presently the Queen desired to go to the hammam, and

when this came to Abu Sir's knowledge, he divided the day on her



account into two parts, appointing that between dawn and noon to men

and that between midday and sundown to women. As soon as the Queen



came, he stationed a handmaid behind the pay chest, for he had

taught four slave girls the service of the hammam, so that they were



become expert bathwomen and tirewomen. When the Queen entered, this

pleased her, and her breast waxed broad, and she laid down a



thousand dinars.

Thus his report was noised abroad in the city, and all who entered



the bath he entreated with honor, were they rich or poor. Good came in

upon him at every door, and he made acquaintance with the royal guards



and got him friends and intimates. The King himself used to come to

him one day in every week, leaving with him a thousand dinars, and the



other days were for rich and poor alike; and he was wont to deal

courteously with the folk and use them with the utmost respect. It



chanced that the King's sea captain came in to him one day in the

bath, so Abu Sir did off his dress and going in with him, proceeded to



shampoo him, and entreated him with exceedingcourtesy. When he came

forth, he made him sherbet and coffee, and when he would have given



him somewhat, he swore that he would not accept from him aught. So the

captain was under obligation to him, by reason of his exceeding



kindness and courtesy, and was perplexed how to requite the bathman

his generous dealing.



Thus fared it with Abu Sir, but as regards Abu Kir, hearing an the

people recounting wonders of the baths and saying, "Verily, this



hammam is the Paradise of this world! Inshallah, O Such-a-one, thou

shalt go with us tomorrow to this delightful bath," he said to



himself, "Needs must I fare like the rest of the world, and see this

bath that hath taken folk's wits." So he donned his richest dress, and



mounting a she-mule and bidding the attendance of four white slaves

and four blacks, walking before and behind him, he rode to the hammam.



When he alighted at the door, he smelt the scent of burning aloes wood

and found people going in and out and the benches full of great and



small. So he entered the vestibule, and saw Abu Sir, who rose to him

and rejoiced in him, but the dyer said to him: "Is this the way of



well-born men? I have opened me a dyery and am become master dyer of

the city and acquainted with the King and have risen to prosperity and

• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• commit [kə´mit] vt.犯(罪)；把…判处 (初中英语单词)


• forbid [fə´bid] vt.禁止，不许，阻止 (初中英语单词)


• resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)


• wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)


• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)


• fountain [´fauntin] n.泉水；源泉；根源 (初中英语单词)


• thither [´ðiðə] ad.到那里 a.那边的 (初中英语单词)


• barber [´bɑ:bə] n.理发师 (初中英语单词)


• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)


• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)


• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)


• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)


• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)


• moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)


• sovereign [´sɔvrin] a.至高无上的 n.君主 (初中英语单词)


• contain [kən´tein] v.包含；容纳；抑制 (初中英语单词)


• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)


• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)


• whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)


• expert [´ekspə:t] n.&a.专家；内行 (初中英语单词)


• abroad [ə´brɔ:d] ad.海外；到处；广泛 (初中英语单词)


• acquaintance [ə´kweintəns] n.相识；熟人，相识的人 (初中英语单词)


• utmost [´ʌtməust] a.最大的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)


• obligation [,ɔbli´geiʃən] n.义务；职责；合约 (初中英语单词)


• paradise [´pærədais] n.天堂；乐园 (初中英语单词)


• delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)


• prosperity [prɔ´speriti] n.繁荣；成功；幸运 (初中英语单词)


• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• whilst [wailst] conj.当…时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)


• roughly [´rʌfli] ad.粗糙地；毛糙地 (高中英语单词)


• forbidden [fə´bidn] forbid的过去分词 (高中英语单词)


• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)


• therein [ðeə´rin] ad.在那里，在其中 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)


• crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)


• pavement [´peivmənt] n.路面；铺筑材料 (高中英语单词)


• thorough [´θʌrə] a.彻底的；详尽的 (高中英语单词)


• generosity [,dʒenə´rɔsiti] n.慷慨；慷慨的行为 (高中英语单词)


• prosper [´prɔspə] v.(使…)繁荣(成功) (高中英语单词)


• exceedingly [ik´si:diŋli] ad.非常地，极度地 (高中英语单词)


• bounty [´baunti] n.慷慨；恩惠；赠物 (高中英语单词)


• grudge [grʌdʒ] vt.&n.吝啬；怨恨 (高中英语单词)


• profitable [´prɔfitəbəl] a.有益的；有用的 (高中英语单词)


• suffice [sə´fais] vt.使满足 vi.足够 (高中英语单词)


• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)


• courtesy [´kə:tisi] n.礼貌；殷勤；好意 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• villain [´vilən] n.坏人；恶棍；反面角色 (英语四级单词)


• comely [´kʌmli] a.秀丽的；文雅的 (英语四级单词)


• whereupon [,weərə´pɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语四级单词)


• gotten [´gɔtn] get的过去分词 (英语四级单词)


• wherefore [´weəfɔ:] ad.为什么；因此 (英语四级单词)


• withal [wi´ðɔ:l] ad.加之；同样；然而 (英语四级单词)


• midday [´middei] n.中午 (英语四级单词)


• exceeding [ik´si:diŋ] a.超越的，非常的 (英语四级单词)


• departed [di´pɑ:tid] a.已往的；已故的 (英语六级单词)


• beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• wherewith [wɛə´wiθ] ad.用什么；用以 (英语六级单词)


• extended [iks´tendid] a.伸长的；广大的 (英语六级单词)


• bethink [bi´θiŋk] vt.想起；思考 (英语六级单词)


• minded [´maindid] a.有…心的 (英语六级单词)


• sundown [´sʌndaun] n.日落 (英语六级单词)